318: The Past

The old man's sudden words let everyone know that this matter was not over yet. The eldest family, who was still incredulous, glanced at each other and exchanged gloating looks. It was impossible for the old man to favor one grandson too generously compared to another. They were afraid that since Wang Cheng got kicked out of the Zhou family, his weight in the old man's heart was probably not as heavy as before.

Mother Zheng didn't have time to pay attention to what they were thinking, because she was also worried that the old man would question her younger son's photos. Father Zheng knew that the photos were fake, so he didn't think that his younger son was really dating Chu Yifeng. However, Mother Zheng knew the truth, so she was a little apprehensive.

"Mom, don't worry, Grandpa won't do anything to Chengcheng." Zheng Jingen comforted her by passing along a hint that only the mother and son could understand.

"Yeah, Jingen is right. Chengcheng is my father's own grandson anyway," Father Zheng echoed. He didn't realize that his eldest son's words had another layer of meaning.

Mother Zheng nodded, but she was inevitably still a little worried.

Wang Cheng followed the old man to the study. Every time he came here, he was blanketed in a solemn, almost depressing atmosphere that felt similar to the aura of the old man. He didn’t want to stay here for much longer.

"Do you know why I asked you to come up?" The old man sat down and looked at his grandson standing in front of him. Since the first time he saw his grandson, he’d known he was extraordinary. After Wang Cheng changed his surname to Zhou, his grandfather specifically paid attention to the situation of the Zhou family. Wang Cheng’s behavior in the Zhou family left his grandpa very satisfied. However, what he did not expect was that his grandson would get together with the eldest grandson of the Chu family. He was not a fool. Though the photos seemed innocent, with another glance, they still looked a bit suspicious, especially the behavior of the eldest grandson of the Chu family.

"I do know." Wang Cheng responded.

"Then tell me." The old man added.

Wang Cheng put his hands behind his back like a student reporting to the teacher. "You want to talk to me about the photos."

"You’re not stupid." The old man nodded, slightly satisfied. "Then what else do you have to say? You should know that for the sake of the Zheng family, I will not agree to you being together."

"Why?" Wang Cheng asked rhetorically, "The Zheng family is full of grandchildren, you won’t be missing me. The problem of descendants can also be solved by my big brother. If you always want to hold a great-grandson, my elder brother or other cousins ​​can fulfill your wish, so having an heir is not a problem. As for the face of the Zheng family, even the Chu family doesn't care. What use is there for the Zheng family to? Society has become more and more open-minded, and even relevant technologies have appeared, indicating that people are becoming quite tolerant. Most importantly, my surname is Zhou. If others talk, they’ll talk of the Zhou family. Even if the Zheng family is affected, the impact will definitely not be too great. What else does the old man have to worry about?"

"Your eloquence is good." The old man didn't expect him to refute so many points. Wang Cheng was right, his relationship with a man had little effect on the Zheng family.

"So I’ve heard." Wang Cheng laughed.

"But that doesn't mean that I will agree with you two being together. After all, it is just not right for two men to live their lives together." The old man said indifferently.

Wang Cheng didn't believe that he said these words because he cared about him. His refusal must be related to the Zhou family. The old man would never watch the Zhou family fall into the hands of Zhou Lin and his wife. However, it seemed like the old man intended to make a concession at some point, so he wanted to hear what he had to say.

"What would it take for Grandpa to agree to me being with Chu Yifeng?"

The old man didn't say it directly. Instead, he turned the corner and said, "Do you know why Grandpa agreed to your mother's request to change your surname to Zhou?"

"Yes, because my maternal grandfather needed an heir."

"That is one of the reasons." The old man fell silent after speaking, and his eyes grew distant. Only after a while did he say: "It wasn’t an accident that you disappeared back then. I think you can guess why. Although there is no evidence, your mother has always suspected that this had something to do with her sister."

Wang Cheng did not expect that the old man would take the initiative to bring up this matter. His disappearance had been a taboo topic in the family, so he’d thought that the old man was actually trying to shield someone. After all, it was suspected that someone had been conspiring with Zhou Lin, and that person was most likely from the Zheng family.

"I understand what grandpa means, my mother hates my aunt. She told me before that she wanted me to return to the Zhou family to inherit the Zhou Group and prevent my aunt from getting things she didn’t deserve.”

"Right. Although your mother isn’t pressuring you, are you willing to let her hopes down? The Zhou family has always been the source of her troubles. After you disappeared back then, though your mother didn't display any drastic behaviors, she had to see a psychiatrist several times. Even if she hasn’t mentioned the matter of the psychiatrist to you, she’s kept it in her heart. I also understand that your grandfather wouldn't want to see the Zhou Group become an outsider’s in the future. Perhaps you don’t know, but before your grandfather established the Zhou Group, his family was not rich..."

The old man told Wang Cheng about Zhou Shichang's inhumane experiences when he was young, which no outsiders knew about. In fact, even Mother Zheng hadn’t heard this story.

When Zhou Shichang was young, his family struggled to make ends meet. However, he had a good uncle whose family owned a restaurant that made a good profit, and even owned a small car. Because Zhou Shichang studied well, and his uncle only had one daughter in his family, he put great expectations on his nephew and paid for Zhou Shichang's college expenses. However, something happened later that completely changed Zhou Shichang's life.

Zhou Shichang’s female cousin had always looked down on him, and felt that Zhou Shichang depended on her family to be where he was. So, she despised Zhou Shichang from the bottom of her heart and privately mocked him. Zhou Shichang didn't mind his cousin. Since his uncle had treated him well when his family was poor, he would definitely pay him back when he was better off. Unfortunately, his uncle couldn't wait for that moment.

Before Zhou Shichang graduated, his uncle died in a car accident while on a business trip.

When Zhou Shichang’s uncle had helped his family, his aunt had objected. The mother and daughter were of similar characters, they both thought that Zhou Shichang’s family was too poor and pedantic. So, after they took control of the finances, they were unwilling to give Zhou Shichang a single cent. When Zhou Shichang went to visit them during the holidays, the mother and daughter sneered at him, saying that he only came to ask for money. He never went to his uncle's house again after that.

Later, Zhou Shichang heard of the mother and daughter again when his uncle's daughter was getting married, to a marriage partner that was apparently well-matched. They also sent a wedding invitation to Zhou Shichang. Zhou Shichang, who was already working at the time, thought about how well his uncle had once treated him and felt like he should go participate.

Zhou Shichang chatted with the groom for a bit, and found that he seemed to have a bad mind and a bad temperament. Anyhow, he was not someone anyone should entrust their life with. He later discussed this with his other uncle in private, fearing that they had been deceived. As a result, his uncle’s daughter scolded him and cursed him, creating a big fuss. In the end, he had no choice but to leave.

Later, Zhou Shichang investigated the groom and found that he really was nothing good. The groom's family was also involved in business, but it was said that they didn’t have a very good reputation. Even though Zhou Shichang was treated by them as less than nothing, he went there twice in honor of his uncle. However, the mother and daughter still didn't appreciate his presence, so he gradually stopped going. It wasn’t until a few months later that he heard news, bad news.

It turned out that the mother and daughter had told the new son-in-law what he said, and the family joined forces to smear his reputation by spreading bad news about him and even networking to get the company he worked for to fire him. They went to the extent to spread rumors in his hometown that he was a degenerate who became a gangster and committed enough drug abuse to land him in prison for life, angering his father to death.

After that, Zhou Shichang never dealt with the mother and daughter again. The next thing he heard was that the restaurant was facing more problems. Apparently, many customers complained that the restaurant's food wasn’t clean, causing the restaurant to lose customers and money. Under the encouragement of the son-in-law, the mother and daughter sold the restaurant at a low price. The initiator of this deal was the son-in-law; he had always wanted to annex the restaurant, so he’d planned all this. Without the restaurant, naturally, the mother and daughter had no value to him. Later on, the son-in-law was caught cheating, the husband and wife turned against each other, and all kinds of chaos ensued. Their lives were comparable to a dog blood TV series.

At some point, the mother and daughter probably realized that they couldn’t support themselves without that son-in-law. They had become accustomed to a good life after so many years living it, and they would definitely not survive if they suddenly lived in poverty. So, Zhou Shichang’s cousin did not mention divorce anymore. On the contrary, she turned a blind eye to her husband's care for his mistress and lived a comfortable and useless life. She even let go of her moodiness and stopped complaining.

After Zhou Shichang developed, the first thing he did was take care of his family.

His aunt and cousin could watch the restaurant that his uncle worked so hard on be annexed and ruined, and could even forgive the son-in-law for the sake of living a good life, but he couldn't.

Because of this, Zhou Shichang didn't like sons-in-law who came to visit his house, let alone sons-in-law who coveted their wives’ family property. Zhou Lin and Zhao Jiansheng were very much like his uncle's daughter and son-in-law in every aspect. This was the reason he would rather not pass on the Zhou Group to the Zhou Lin couple or their son, but to Mother Zheng, saying he had no heir. However, Mr. Zheng didn’t know about all that, he only knew that Zhou Shichang would never give the Zhou Group to the Zhou Lin husband and wife. Neither was he willing to let the Zhou Group fall into the hands of outsiders in the future.

"The Zhou Group is your grandfather's heart disease. Although he didn't say it, he must’ve been heartbroken when you chose Chu Yifeng over the Zhou Group without hesitation."

Wang Cheng fell silent.

The old man also did not urge him.

After a while, Wang Cheng asked, "Grandpa, I have a question."

"You say it."

"What did my grandfather do with those people to deal with them?"

It was the old man's turn to be silent. After a few seconds he said, "After a few minutes, that’s the only question you could think of?"

Wang Cheng smiled awkwardly, "It’s just because the atmosphere felt strange, so I wanted to ease things up a little. I know that my grandfather is sad, but I still can't let go of Chu Yifeng. What else can I do?"

The old man shook his head helplessly and said, "If you really want to make your grandfather happy, there is still a way."

"What way?" Wang Cheng's eyes widened.

"A surrogate pregnancy. It is also the condition on which I’ll agree with you and Chu Yifeng’s relationship. This is the only concession I can make. If you aren’t willing, I can use other methods, but you don’t want to see those."

"..." Something didn’t sound right, but at least he was open to conditions.

The old man ended up giving him three days to think about it.

***

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